Category: Blogs

Five ways the West might increase pressure on the Russian economy

By Brian O’Toole, Daniel Fried

The crumbling Russian macroeconomy may entice Western policymakers to knock Russian President Vladimir Putin and his power centers further off balance. 

State of the Order: Assessing August 2023

The State of the Order breaks down the month's most important events impacting the democratic world order.

Iran will never go back to the way it was

By Holly Dagres

While some argue that the ongoing anti-establishment protests began in mid-September 2022, the reality is that Iranians have been defying the regime for years.

Russian War Report: A new recruitment push for fighters from Russia to Hungary

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

The Russian National Guard and a private Hungarian foreign legion have launched campaigns to recruit soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

Will the G20 Summit help India become the voice of the Global South?

By Hung Tran

New Delhi has raised the prospect of G20 membership for the African Union, reform of global financial institutions, restructuring of sovereign debt, and additional climate financing.

The protests in Iran are not a revolution—yet. These events must occur first.

By Jack A. Goldstone

To draw in the majority of Iranians, the protests in Iran need to have a leader or organization that people trust.

Egypt is killing the history of its City of the Dead

By Shahira Amin

A large part of the necropolis has been reduced to rubble as part of the Egyptian governments plan to "modernize Cairo".

Ukraine’s partners cannot remove Putin but they can stop legitimizing him

By Richard Cashman

As long as Vladimir Putin is in power, Russia will remain a rogue state. Western policies that legitimize him through fear of a potential post-Putin Russia are perverse, writes Richard Cashman.

Belarus dictator weaponizes passports in new attack on exiled opposition

By Hanna Liubakova

Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka has banned the country's embassies from issuing or renewing passports in a move that critics see as his latest escalation against Belarus's exiled pro-democracy opposition, writes Hanna Liubakova.

A pilgrimage of love: Mourning the dead in defiance of the Islamic Republic

By Khosro Sayeh Isfahani

Over the past weeks, the Islamic Republic has harassed, threatened, detained, and exiled relatives of the victims of state violence.